The political economy of public research, or why some governments commit to research more than others

Andrea Filippetti () and Antonio Vezzani

No 2020-029, MERIT Working Papers from United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT)

Abstract: The broad consensus about the benefits of public research is at odds with the fact that investment is in general declining but with different patterns across countries. This triggers our research question: why do some governments invest in public research more than others? By relying on political economy literature, we frame investment in public research as a political choice depending on the political institutions of countries. Based on an empirical analysis on 41 countries we find a robust relationship between public-funded research and political institutions. Countries with parliamentary forms of government, proportional electoral rules and bicameralism devote larger shares of GDP and of public expenditure to research. We also find a great role of encompassing civic society organizations in encouraging public research. Political economy offers a promising perspective to delve into the patterns of public research. As for policy implications, majoritarian-like reforms might discourage long-term policies and harm the long-term potential for economic growth.

Keywords: public research; political economy; R&D; innovation policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O31 O33 O38 P16 P48 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020-06-18
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-pol, nep-sbm and nep-tid
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Related works:
Journal Article: The political economy of public research, or why some governments commit to research more than others (2022)
Working Paper: The political economy of public research, or why some governments commit to research more than others
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:unm:unumer:2020029

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